More than 200,000 passengers from countries with mutant Covid strain to arrive in UK before start of hotel quarantine
MORE than 200,000 passengers from 'red list' countries known to have mutant Covid strains are set to enter the UK before rules forcing them to quarantine in hotels on arrival come into force.
Ahead of the first government-approved hotels opening on February 15, passenger data shows around 205,000 are expected to enter the country from the 33 "red list" countries in the next week.
Another 180,000 passengers from 27 other countries which have confirmed the Brazilian or South African variant will have entered the UK in the same period,
The figures come amid increasing concerns regarding mutant Covid strains, as the government faces criticism over its "delayed reaction."
The World Health Organisation has said a further 29 countries that have detected mutant strains have been left off the ";red list".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that travellers returning from "red list" countries will be "met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine".
Health Officials revealed Retired Royal Marine general General Sir Gordon Messenger, who oversaw Liverpool's mass testing programme, would be brought in to oversee the logistics of the new measures.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to announce this week that all arrivals must be tested for coronavirus on the second and eighth day of quarantine.
This puts an end to the "test and release" scheme, which allowed possible Covid-carriers to leave isolation if they had after a negative test on their fifth day.
Yet while the public awaits further details concerning the hotel quarantine scheme, it emerged that the government had not signed a single contract with a hotel group.
They instead were left racing to reserve 28,000 hotel rooms across the UK, The Telegraph reports.
Hotel bosses have been told to prepare for 1,425 passengers a day by February 15 by ministers, according to the publication.
The Department of Health have contacted hotels near ports and airports to see if they accommodate quarantining guests - who will be charged £800 per person for 10 days.
Plans are understood to have been submitted by the a number of the UK's biggest hotel chains - Accor, Hilton, IHG and Best Western - to cater to the mandatory quarantine period.
show Government appointed security would patrol all floors of the hotels and that guests would have to clean their own rooms.
It's thought security teams will escort guests outside if they need to smoke or get fresh air, unequipped guests can have their laundry done, and three meals a day will be provided.
After success in New Zealand and Australia, it is hoped the "contactless" experience will reduce infection rates.
Despite the haphazard tactics of officials battling to contend with travellers from the 33 "red list" countries, the figures are set to propel demands from Labour to increase the number of countries subject to the mandatory hotel quarantine.
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds slammed the measures as "far too slow to begin with" and "dangerously inadequate".
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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has indicated that the "red list" could widen to include other countries located in South America, Southern Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Cape Verde and Portugal.
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Spain has imposed strict border restrictions with Portugal due to its relationship with Brazil, in a bid to stop the variants spread.
The mammoth £55million bill for the hotel accommodation is expected to be paid for by the government, before the money is later collected from passengers.
